Adventures of John: Death of Magic
by John The Adventurer
Summary: I'm back in the game, and the stakes have never been higher. An adventure that started with the manhunt for the former King Hans takes a turn for the worst as my compatriots and I come face-to-face with enemies from a distant universe that threaten the origin of magic itself. It looks like the multiverse has need of the Adventurer once more.
1. Introduction

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Introduction

Hey readers, it looks like I'm back! You know, all I asked for was that there would be no more universe-ending catastrophes. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently it was, because it happened again. I suppose they make life exciting, but I didn't really need more excitement. I have plenty of that already. I spend enough time in the magical realms to get my fill of excitement without having to stop cosmic disasters. But whatever, it doesn't matter. Here we are again, with me having completed another adventure and you reading all about it. And I do have to admit, it does feel good to be back in the game.

You know, after that fiasco with Order and Chaos I really thought I might be done with it all. I didn't think there was anything out there that could top that level of insanity. I'm fairly certain I jinxed myself just by thinking that. Thinking back, I really should have known that something like this was coming. Ever since that day all that time ago, the day I met the Doctor and chose to keep that stupid spell, it seems like the universe feels like I owe it a debt. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't kept that spell. Though if it weren't for that spell I would have never met Elsa, so it definetly isn't all bad.

You know, not that long ago I thought of myself as little more than a magical tourist. Back in the days of skipping my way through the magical realms, looking for my next adventure. I was still fresh from the war with the Lord of the Darkened land back then. I had unconsciously blocked out all of my darker memories from that war, and in those days I still hungered for excitement, I still needed the thrill of the adventure. Back then they called me the Traveler, because that was what I did. I was constantly traveling, never staying in one place for long. I made enough of an impact to be noticed, but for the most part it was simply really dangerous tourism.

That spell changed everything. After using that spell, I kept on finding myself in situations where I had to save the universe. No longer was I a tourist. After that, I became the hero I had to be. You know, I never really considered the possibility that might be the universe's way of repaying the debt. It sort of makes sense. After all, that spell nearly destroyed the universe three separate times. But if that is the case, I think I should have repaid my debt long ago. Unless of course there are still some repercussions of my first usage of that terrible spell that I have to witness. The questions that brings up are daunting to say the least.

So here I am, writing another story, telling you of my adventures. It has only been a couple of months since I last wrote, but it feels like years. I hope you are all faring well and that none of you were killed or injured during the war between Order and Chaos. I tried to keep as much of that from happening as I could. I will unfortunately not be able to update this story every day like I used to, as I am very busy with… stuff. I will however be adding a new chapter each week, so you will still have a steady supply of my writing.

Author's Note: I just realized that author's notes don't make much sense for me. These stories are all about me, told from my point of view. The whole series is basically one really long author's note. Also, my novel _The Event_ is coming along well, and I made a John the Adventurer Facebook page. Anyways, continue to the next chapter. You have one heck of a story to read.


	2. Chapter 1: The Slaughter of Asgard

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 1: The Slaughter of Asgard

I caught the blade of the battle-axe on a magical barrier, shattering the crude steel and sending the hairy warrior flying backwards. "Einherjar," I muttered scornfully. "Just as brutish and idiotic in death as they were in life." Those ageless Asgardian warriors had once been Vikings, given an eternity in Valhalla as reward for their valiant deaths in battle. Which usually meant that they got themselves killed in incredibly stupid situations that any sane person could have thought their way out of. In this case I was glad for it, as it made them all the easier to kill.

I ran the warrior through, swinging around to slice the heads off a pair that had attempted to strike me from behind. I laughed as the savage warriors continued to come at me in waves, their primitive minds unable to comprehend the impossibility of their situation. Of course, their determination was understandable. After all, from their perspective they were fighting for their gods. There was no way for them to lose. Except of course that I had already killed one of their gods, and I planned to kill the rest before the day was through. I snapped my fingers and their necks spun around with blinding speed, snapping violently.

"Godslayer!" a voice proclaimed. Turning around, I saw a pale-skinned man with a short brown beard wielding a spear. He wore a horned helmet and a suit of chainmail, with a fur pelt overlaying it. He didn't look particularly special or powerful, other than the deadly glint in his eye, and his missing hand. "I am Tyr, god of war, law and honor, and I declare you an honorless scoundrel! Your slaying of Thor was without honor! Will you face me in honorable combat or defeat me in the same honorless manner you did my brother?"

"Thor was the one without honor. When given the chance for honorable combat he chose instead to ambush me with help from four other gods. And if I really was an honorless scoundrel then I don't think I would be capable of honorable combat," I replied. "Besides, I didn't come here to duel you or anyone else. I came here to exterminate you and burn this realm to ashes." Tyr's face turned to a snarl and he charged towards me, eliciting a grin from me. I raised my hand toward him and a column of white-hot fire erupted from before me, engulfing the would-be god in flames.

"One more down." I strode over his charred bones casually, making my way deeper into the "Realm Eternal". An interesting name, seeing as it wouldn't be around for much longer. I summoned my Godslayer blade and slowly slid it through the pile of ash and bone, grinning as I watched the blade consume his essence. Another god dead, another massive amount of power added my already unstoppable weapon.

Turning back to the fields before me, I saw an immense army of Einherjar charging in a horde, axes and swords and spears shining brilliantly in the sunlight. I grinned at this, laughing as I saw the determination on their faces. It was strange really. Incredibly peculiar. They were so determined… to die.

I leapt into the sky, falling back down with my blade outstretched, like an angel of death preparing for the harvest. I landed in a gargantuan explosion of golden light, light which disintegrated everything it touched. Hundreds of Asgard's warriors died in those first few seconds, and they were far from the last. I stood up and fire engulfed the land around me, Einherjar screams cut short as the flames consumed their oh-so flammable flesh. I swept through them, moving at blinding speed, lightning crackling at my fingertips.

. . . . .

"The gods have deserted us." The Einherjar were the bravest warriors in the eternities. All of them had already faced death with a smile on their face. They had fought warriors from a dozen civilizations and even monsters of myth without fear. But this… this was different. The being was everywhere. Its flames consumed hundreds of his comrades. Its blade took the lives of a hundred more. It seemed like only a moment had passed, and already their ranks were more composed of corpses then of men. This was no man, no beast, no god. This was the end. This was Ragnarok, given shape and form. They were already dead.

_This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Where is Loki, where is Fenrir, where is the Midgard Serpent, Jörmungandr? Where are the gods in all their glory? This wasn't how Ragnarok was foretold. Yet here it is, and we can do nothing to stop it. We have failed. Oh, merciful gods, we have failed._

_We have failed._

That was the warrior's last thought as lighting stuck him, illuminating him for a single moment before leaving him a charred husk.

. . . . .

I felt a surge of dark energy above me and looked up from my slaughter to see dozens of women in full battle armor riding on winged steeds. They drew in the air, and where they drew glowing runes appeared. These were the Valkyrie, choosers of the slain. _The fools think to mark me for death, _I realized. _Funny_. I vanished and suddenly there were hundreds of duplicates exactly like me, scattered throughout the remains of the Einherjar force, each copy adorned in the same golden armor and wielding the same deadly blade. My duplicates attacked without mercy, slaughtering what remained of the army.

The Valkyrie cast their death curses down and the duplicates that were struck were shattered by the deathly energy. However, each shattered sliver formed into a separate duplicate, and soon I had thousands of duplicates. With the Einherjar slain they cast themselves into the air, striking at the Valkyrie forces with fire and lightning. The poor ladies never stood a chance. With the bothersome death-slingers dealt with I continued on my way, preparing myself for my next challenge.

Hearing footsteps behind me I stopped, smiling cruelly. "You failed Heimdall. Your eternal watch is over. I came into Asgard without your knowing. When you finally realized I was here you blew your horn and the armies of Asgard came to meet me. Now they lay dead at my feet. Are you ready to meet the same fate?"

"Gjallarhorn did indeed blow, but Asgard's armies are far larger than you suppose," he replied sternly. "What you faced was merely a vanguard. The rest will come, and the rest of the Aesir will come with them. And do not presume. I will not die this day, or the next. I will not die until Ragnarok, when I shall fall in battle slaying the traitor Loki."

I turned around and bared my teeth in a savage grin. "Is that so? What of Thor, what of Tyr? Did they not also have a part to play in this Ragnarok of yours? Face the facts Heimdall. I broke Ragnarok. Your apocalypse cannot come to pass. Your entire mythology has become obsolete. Today Asgard will burn and its gods will fall."

He looked at me thoughtfully, pulling at his snowy white beard. All his hair was the same color as the beard, a spotless white that matched his pale skin. Even his eyes were white, white irises staring into my golden ones. I find it somewhat humorous that Marvel cast a black actor for a guy that looked like he could have camouflaged himself within a snow bank.

"If that is so," he mused, "then my ageless watch has been for nothing." He shook his head determinately. "No. It is you who dies today, Godslayer."

"So be it then," I sighed. The sky was suddenly lit as flames burst from the ground and enveloped the guardian of the Bifrost. After a moment the flames dissipated and Heimdall still stood there, obviously shaken and looking slightly sick, but other than that completely unharmed by the torrential flames.

"My enemy in Ragnarok was to be Loki," he laughed weakly. "Do you really think I would not have a defense against such magics?"

"Of course. Well, there is one magic that no 'god' can defend against." I dashed forward and struck out with my Godslayer blade, an attack that Heimdall blocked with ease.

"I am the guardian of the Bifrost. Do you really think Odin would have a weakling defend the entrance to his kingdom?"

"No, but I killed the god of war," I reminded him. "I think I can take you." I teleported behind him and he blocked my attack, and thus began our dance. I teleported behind, to the left, to the right, above, and below, and each attack was met with Heimdall's blade. His preternatural senses were obviously the reason for this. Without them he would have died in the first five seconds. But he did have them, so our battle continued to grow in speed and fervor.

I teleported behind him and he turned to block, only for my blade to piercer his spine as he did. He stared up at me in confusion as he looked between the blade stick out of his chest and the blade in my hand. I pushed him to the ground, and his dying eyes saw two of me standing side-by-side above him. "You call yourselves gods," both of me told him, crouching down, "but your powers are so limited. There is so little you can actually do. Me, on the other hand," the two mes came back together into my usual self, "anything I can imagine, I can do." I impaled his skull with the Godslayer Blade, and once it had finished absorbing his essence I incinerated his corpse. "And I can imagine quite a lot."

I left his ashes where they lay, walking up to a nearby cliff, dropping down to more of Asgard below. Below me Asgard's armies gathered, hundreds of thousands of Einherjar and tens of thousands of Valkyrie all gathered to destroy me, led by their gods. I closed my eyes and focused on the earth below them, then opened my eyes and watched as the ground beneath their feet opened up to swallow them before closing again with a sickening _crunch_ that I could hear all the way on my hilltop. I looked up at the sky and storm clouds gathered, unleashing lightning that fried the Valkyrie in the air. In a matter of minutes Asgard's armies were reduced to a few shocked Einherjar and a collection of horrified gods.

"Gods of Asgard!" I proclaimed, my voice booming across the expanse. "Your time is over! This world no longer has need of you. You gave up your souls in exchange for power, and this is where that choice has led you. Your champions are dead, your prophecies broken. You can either accept the end peacefully, or die screaming." I shot a stream of golden fire into the sky to punctuate my statement, setting the sky alight.

Suddenly the flames died and an aged figure rode out to the forefront of the gathered Asgardians. His long grey beard dangled over his ancient armor, his one remaining eye staring at me as he brandished his spear above his eight-legged steed. "And I have a counter-offer!" he exclaimed. "Abandon this fool's quest now, and I, Odin Allfather, will ensure that your death is swift and painless."

"I think not."

He sighed sagely. "So be it." He hurled his spear at me, the enchanted weapon flying through the air directly towards my face. It stopped in the air, my hands having collided together against the tip, halting its deadly advance. I laughed and held the spear aloft.

"You are obsolete, Allfather. The time of heathen gods has ended. You have not been worshipped for centuries. Your power is failing. You call yourselves gods, yet you can't even retain your youth without eating those blasted apples of yours. Humanity has discarded you, just as you once discarded your own humanity." The air around me shook with power, electricity crackling dangerously. "And today you die." I snapped his spear over my leg, shards of wood flying into the air. I directed the shards to their targets, two ravens circling above the battlefield. Hugin and Munin, Thought and Memory. They died, and with their death Odin fell to the ground, his mind gone.

Before the assembled deities could react to the disaster I was among them, slashing with my Godslayer Blade. The power in Odin's spear was gone, absorbed into the blade, just as the essences of these Asgardians were about to be. When the slaughter was over I stood over the collective corpses of the Norse gods, the religion of an ancient culture lying dead at my feet.

I closed my eyes and the earth shook, the sky thundered, and the very air trembled at the power I was about to unleash. The ground fell apart beneath my feet, mountains crumbling to dust. The homes and palaces of the Asgardians fell, disintegrating into ash. Fires erupted from the earth and the landscape shifted and changed, becoming jagged and broken. There was no more Asgard. There was nothing left but fire and ruin.

. . . . .

Hel, daughter of Loki and goddess of death, screamed as the Godslayer Blade drank her essence. Loki's other children, the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent, fell likewise. I wielded the power of a thousand dead gods, and not even the greatest of beasts could withstand such might. Finally, after all the Norse deities were dead but one, I approached the last of them. The trickster god Loki, bound by the entrails of his son. A giant, much larger than the comics would have you believe, Loki was a massive being. He strained against his bonds, his eyes blinded by the venom of the snake above him. The bowl holding the venom was nearly full, and there was no one left to empty it. Soon it would overflow, and more than his eyes would feel the touch of venom.

"Who's there?!" he cried. "I know you are there! I can hear your breath!"

"My name is John," I told him, crouching down. "I am known by some as the Godslayer. Asgard is gone Loki. I have destroyed it. Thor, Odin, Heimdall, all are dead. But so are your children, Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent. Ragnarok has been broken. Now there is only one thing remaining."

"You are here to kill me," he stated simply.

"Indeed." I sighed, pulling out my blade. "For the record, I never wanted this. Your fellow gods brought forced me into this. They had every chance to leave well enough alone. Now it is too late for them, and too late for you." He breathed his last breath and the Godslayer blade consumed the essence of the last of the Norse gods.

. . . . .

"Another pantheon eliminated," a sinister voice commented from behind me. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

I sighed and turned around to see the Trickster, displaying his disturbing jagged-toothed grin. "Nothing about this slaughter is good," I replied. "It's necessary. The time of men worshipping false gods is over. Their time has expired."

"Oh, but don't you enjoy the thrill? The surge of power as you consume the power of another god? So many pantheons dead now, all at your hand. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Polynesians, the Aztecs, the Slavs, the Canaanites… was it just me, or did the Canaanite gods look a bit sickly to you? I wonder how long it has been since anyone worshipped them…"

"How many times do I have to kill you before you finally leave me alone?"

He laughed at that. "Sorry, but that's not going to happen anytime soon Johnny Boy. I'm not a god, so that fancy toy of yours wouldn't work on me. I'll always come back for more. I'm unique."

"Unique? What about your relatives that kidnapped my wife back in Arendelle?"

"Relatives?" he laughed. "I'm afraid you've been misled Adventurer. You see, I'm from **this** universe. They were from **that** universe." He gestured exaggeratedly as he spoke, pointing and waving all over the place. "Completely different realities. So sorry, no relation." He mused for a moment, his shadowy form temporarily losing its humanoid shape and becoming amorphous. "Even though you still can't always tell when you're being lied to, you've come quite a long way from that curious boy I met in the Faerie Forest all those years ago. Now you're the savior of the universe and slayer of gods. So much has changed, and all of it because of you."

"I don't have time to reminisce with you Trickster," I told him, my fist beginning to glow. "I have somewhere to be."

"Ah yes, wouldn't want to disappoint the misses. Give her my love!" He vanished just before my lance of light could strike him, his maddening laugh echoing in the air.


	3. Chapter 2: Arendelle Living

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 2: Arendelle Living

After the deaths of Thor, Ares, and Sekhmet, I knew that retribution was inevitable. These "gods" were too prideful, they couldn't resist trying to repair their damaged pride. Still, I hoped that as immortals they would be patient and wait until I was old and frail. Unfortunately it didn't work that way. The Egyptians struck first, sending the cat goddess Bast to kill me in my sleep. Unfortunately I woke up and ran her through with my Godslayer blade. I knew that if I didn't attempt to repay the Egyptians for attempting to assassinate me the rest of the pantheons would consider me weak and attempt their own assassinations, so I went to repay them.

Long story short, the Egyptian gods weren't happy when the saw I was still alive. They sought to kill me once I appeared and things got bloody. That night the sanctuaries of Egypt's ancient gods were torn down, the deities themselves massacred. But that was just the beginning, as by killing an entire pantheon I had unwittingly declared myself the enemy of every dead pagan religion. Beyond that, I had become too powerful for them to let me live. Egypt had thousands of gods, and I had killed all of them, absorbing their power into my blade. The pagan deities feared the possibility of a mortal wielding that kind of power.

They should have left well enough alone. With that knowledge in mind I began to travel to each of the "sacred" realms. Every few nights I had killed off another entire pantheon. Some of them were familiar, while others I didn't even recognize. Some were still immensely powerful while others seemed so powerless they were more like ghosts than gods. I didn't enjoy it. I even cried when I killed some of them, the ones that looked like they couldn't kill an insect, much less me. But I continued my slaughter. I was the Godslayer and they were gods.

. . . . .

"Sorry I'm late," I told the group as I entered the library. "There was an… issue I had to deal with."

"We understand, you are a busy man," Prince Adam stated. "I can't imagine what it must be like to live your life…" His long ponytail wagged like a dog's tail as he shook his head. He looked down his blue suit at the open book in his hands. "Maybe you could help me with this question. Why doesn't this wizard fellow use these eagles of his more often? They could have skipped straight over the whole trek and saved everyone's lives by just flying over to Mount Doom and dropping the blasted ring in."

"The eagles aren't Gandalf's slaves," Belle stated before I could speak. "They only rescued him from Saruman because Gandalf is an old friend of theirs. They would never fly him and several others hundreds of miles to Mordor, where the Ringwraiths could kill them. Honestly, it's like you barely even skimmed the book!"

Elsa just rolled her eyes at the couple from her spot on the couch, smiling slightly as she glanced at her own copy of the book. Since the end of the Order-Chaos war I have been spending as much time in Arendelle as I could, and a while ago I began introducing the family to some of the literature and other media from our world. After hearing about the strange stories Belle couldn't resist coming to Arendelle to ask if she could get a copy to read herself. Now whenever I recreate a book from our world in Arendelle we send a copy to her and Adam's little princedom and afterwards they come over to Arendelle to discuss the book. Adam is far from a genius, but Belle has proven to be just as clever as she is in her movie and Elsa and I have become fast friends with the French couple.

After another hour of discussion the two royals left to their guest room. In a few days, after they had some rest and I had given them the next book to read, they would go home and return in a month for the another book and another few days of time here. With them gone Elsa and I were alone in the study, stone the fireplace burning steadily. I stared out the window at the harbor where what seemed to be entire fleets of ships moved about or were docked, cargo being loaded and unloaded and money exchanging hands.

Even before the Invasion of Arendelle by the Southern Isles led by the one-time King Hans, Arendelle had never had much of a military. That invasion had wiped out what little navy the kingdom had, and if it hadn't been for Elsa and I the damage would have been far worse. Now the fruits of that war were still visible in the form of the Wall of Arendelle, the massive structure of enchanted ice that Elsa and I had created during the invasion. It still stood proudly over the waters of the fjord, but ships now passed freely through its massive gates, every foreign sailor reminded exactly who ruled here.

Even in the days of King Adgar and Queen Idun, Elsa and Anna's parents, Arendelle had been a trading nation. In the years since Elsa took the throne however, Arendelle has been flourishing like never before. With Hans's older brother Samuel in charge, the New Republic of the Southern Isles is now actually one of our greatest trading partners, though our trading interests stretch to far distant lands, from DunBroch to Corona. It would be fair to say that Arendelle, though little more than a single city and a few small towns, now possesses one of that world's largest trading empires. If it touches the ocean and is anywhere near the European continent, you can be sure that it has at least one ship bearing the flag of Arendelle in its harbor.

"You're doing it again," Elsa sighed, draping her arms over my shoulders from behind.

"Doing what?"

"Thinking. It's not healthy."

"I'm always thinking! You of all people should know that intelligent people tend to do a lot of thinking."

She turned me around and looked me in the eyes, somehow managing to look down at me despite my much taller height. "But you are coming dangerously close to brooding. I love your mind, but I do wish you'd spend less time inside of it and more time out here with me. It's not like we have all the time in the world. You always have your other world to return to. We need to spend what time we have together wisely."

"Wisely?" I asked, a small grin tugging at the corners of my lips. I looked around us, then wiggled my eyebrows at her. "You know, we are alone, and our rooms aren't that far away…"

She smacked me lightly against the chest, struggling to keep herself from smiling. "Not now! We still have things we have to do. I need to go and hear the problems of the people, something that you might want to do every once in a while."

"I love our kingdom, but I know nothing about ruling a kingdom. That's why I'm only the king consort. I get to stand around looking imposing while you do all the boring stuff."

She shook her head, giggling quietly. "You're hopeless. While I do the 'boring stuff' you go make yourself busy over at the school. Our half-genie friend had to fly to Agrabah for some family business. Someone needs to cover his Principles of Magic class. Think you're up to it?"

"Please, don't insult me. I was learning the principles of magic when I was eight. From faeries. I think I can handle subbing Alex's class."

"Then you better get on with it." She kissed me quickly on the lips, then turned around to saunter away. "Maybe afterwards we could find some time for ourselves."

. . . . .

The Arendelle Academy for Gifted Individuals, known more commonly as "that witch place" among the less educated people of the various nations, was founded by Elsa and I after the Invasion of Arendelle as a place where those with magical powers could come to learn how to control their abilities and remain safe from the superstitious fear of the outside world. The school and its grounds encompass the interior of the North Mountain and the land around it. Elsa's original ice palace acts as the school's front office, with the upper level being the headmaster/headmistress's office, as Elsa and I share that position. The majority of the school, including the student's dorms, are inside the mountain itself, which has been tunneled through and hollowed out by my magic, with some help from Conner, our resident druid, the last of the druids as far as I am aware. Other, smaller ice buildings were added to the exterior of the complex, serving various different purposes. All-in-all the school is a wonder of magic and architecture, with the walls of the interior just as beautiful as the icy buildings outside.

Since founding the school we have gotten far more students than we ever expected, with the three that we started with now having expanded to several hundred. Our first students are now teachers, and with the snow golem Marshmallow acting as the dean of the school the place has been running very smoothly. Even with that tiara on his head, that giant snowman is still one of the most frightening things those children will ever meet. The room I was now in was placed in the school's interior, with the décor being distinctly Arabic in origin. At the time the classroom housed a dozen students, ranging in age from young children to young adults and ranging in appearance from relatively normal to nearly inhuman. They all stared intently at me with a mixture of fear and awe, all of them probably having hear by this point the various tales of my exploits.

"Who here remembers the most basic law of magical action?"

A teenage girl whose hair had been a neon green a minute ago but was now a fluorescent pink raised her hand. "The Law of Conservation of Energy."

"Correct!" I proclaimed, gracing her with a smile. "This is the one law of magic that I have yet to find an exception to. The basic concept is that the bigger or more complicated the intended result, the more power is required. If you wanted to, say, build a massive palace out of ice," the whole class grinned at that, "it would take a lot more energy than it would to create a scale model of the same palace that could fit your hand."

"As for complicated, a perfect example of this would be our dear dean, the ever cuddly Dean Marshmallow. To create a creature like him, one that can think for itself and even have emotions, would take far more power than creating a similar creature that can only understand and respond to simple commands. Basically, we have learned today that my wife is an incredibly powerful woman that you do not want to cross." That earned another chuckle from the class.

"Now, who can tell me three more laws of magic, as well as examples of exceptions to these laws?"

. . . . .

When the class was over a bell was sounded with a noise that echoed throughout the complex, created by Marshmallow hitting a very large gong. The class scurried out and I was left alone. I knew that Elsa would still be listening to appeals for a bit longer, so I decided to spend that time wisely. I snapped my fingers and the school vanished, replaced by a nursery room that held two cradles.

"Your majesty!" a woman exclaimed, practically leaping out of her chair.

"It's alright Gerda," I assured her. "I just felt like seeing my kids." Gerda left, leaving me alone with my two adorable miracles.

With Elsa's queenly duties and my… complicated schedule we don't get to spend as much time with our few month-old twins, Zane and Alana, as we would like. Gerda was one of the two head servants but insisted on taking care of the children herself when Elsa or I could not. I suppose that is a good thing, as other than her counterpart Kai she is the only servant not shocked and frightened by my children's powers. Seeing as she and Kai helped raise Elsa, it makes sense that they'd be used to uncontrolled magic.

Zane and Alana were fast asleep, swaddled in silken blankets. Zane's blankets had swirling patterns of various shades of red, orange, and blue, giving one the impression of flames spiraling around spires of ice. Alana's blankets were a deep violet with a scattering of golden stars. If one looked closely enough, it almost looked like the stars were in motion, as if one was looking into the depths of the cosmos. The blankets had been a gift from an ambassador of a small island nation from the Far East, somehow matching the children perfectly.

If I were to open their eyes I would have seen Zane's brilliant blue orbs and Alana's dazzling golden spheres. The sight of them still took my breath away, two perfect little children that I could pour my all my heart into. Of course, it was easy to call them perfect when they were sleeping. Not even a year old and already the pair were a handful. Zane had a tendency to cause accidental fire damage, while Alana tended to teleport or levitate her way through the palace. Before long I was forced to devise a charm to limit their abilities until they grew old enough to have at least some manner of control over them. Even with that charm I estimate that it will only be a year or two before they start to find their way into all sorts of trouble.

The door opened and a red-haired woman entered, smiling at me. She was still youthful, but Anna wasn't an eighteen year old girl anymore. Eight years had passed since we first met, and Elsa's sister was now a happily married and the mother of two children of her own. "It's nice to see you John."

"It's nice to see you too Anna," I replied. "How are Kristoff and the kids?"

"They're doing well, though Avan wishes that his Uncle John would come around more often to tell him his stories."

"I would love give the little rascal another show. Do you know the next time Rapunzel and Eugene will be visiting? I'm sure Sammy and Jimmy would hate to miss another of my spectacular adventures." Rapunzel, Elsa and Anna's second cousin and the princess of Corona, also had her own children, twin troublemakers and a little girl that inherited her mother's magic hair. Of course, if you have read my other stories you should already know all this. If you haven't read my other stories, well I guess that's why I'm explaining things, but you should still go and read my other stories.

Go! Shoo! Read! I command it!

Alright, back to the story.

"It should be sometime next week," she replied. "I'll make sure to give Avan the good news."

"And tell Kristoff that when Eugene gets here we're going to have a guy's night out. And tell him I promise not to accidentally teleport us into a dragon's lair this time. I will not repeat the mistakes of the last guy's night out."

"Alright," she agreed, giggling. "I'll tell him." She quietly turned around to leave, but there was one more thing that needed to be addressed.

"One last thing before you leave."

"Sure, what's that?"

"I overheard you and Kristoff yesterday, and I don't think you two should move out of the palace. I'm only here for an average of eight hours each day. That's not nearly enough time. This place is too big for Elsa to be here alone with no one other than a bunch of servants. I don't want Zane and Alana to grow up alone here either. I think it would be better for everyone if you stayed. Besides, your kids already love the twins, and as they grow they are going to need role models closer to their age. Just mull that over as you make your decision."

"Thanks. I'll consider it."

. . . . .

"Another day done, another day conquered," I told Elsa as I entered our bedroom and began to massage her shoulders. "How were the good people of Arendelle today?"

"They weren't too bad, all things considered," she replied, closing her eyes and stretching out languidly in her armchair as I tried to work out the stress from her shoulders. "It's the nobles that I can't stand. They think so highly of themselves that they can't see anything beyond their own needs."

"I guess that's why you're the queen, Princess," I replied. "It's your job to get things done whether the nobles like it or not. No come on, let's get to bed. I am going to make sure that you get a good, restful night's sleep."

. . . . .

"This has gone on long enough," Adelmar, the King of Corona, stated, slamming his fist against the table. "This Hans nearly killed my daughter, and now he's been running free for the better part of a year! None of our search parties have been able to find a trace of the man since he escaped his prison. He could be anywhere, doing anything, and we still haven't got the faintest clue as to where he is!"

"And what do you suggest we do?" the Queen asked him calmly, laying her hand on his shoulder. "Not even Queen and King of Arendelle's magic could find him. What are we supposed to do when two impossibly powerful sorcerers failed?"

"I don't know," he sighed, running his hand through the growing streaks of grey in his hair. "I simply cannot stand the thought of that madman running loose." He thought for another moment, considering the possibilities. "We need a professional," he finally decided. "Someone experienced in hunting down criminals." He looked back up at his wife, his face determined. "We need a bounty hunter."


	4. Chapter 3: The Bounty Hunter

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 3: The Bounty Hunter

"He's hiring a what?" Kristoff sounded almost as surprised as I felt. Hans's trail was so cold that I had almost forgotten about the possible danger he might still pose. I would never had expected Adelmar of all people to suggest such a thing.

"A bounty hunter," Eugene replied. "Rapunzel's father has decided the hunt for Hans needs to reach a swift end. He's decided that a professional is required to deal with this."

"In my experience bounty hunters tend to be an unsavory sort," I muttered. "Remind me sometime to tell you about a bounty hunter named Boba Fett. Nasty piece of work that one. What is this bounty hunter supposed to track anyways? Hans escaped months ago. Whatever trail he left is long cold by now."

"Regardless, the bounty hunter will be here by the end of the week," Eugene informed us. "Alasdair says that we should help them in any way we can."

"Who is this bounty hunter anyways?"

"I don't know. Adelmar didn't tell me anything other than they are the best in the business."

"Then I guess we better prepare to meet for our guest."

. . . . .

The rider rode swiftly, their cloak billowing about them in the wind. Breathing in the fresh mountain air, the rider was glad they had chosen this route. They could have taken the ship the entire way, but that would have taken away from the thrill. The ship was too small, too crowded. Out here in the wild they were alone with no one but their trusty steed, the wind whispering to them of their fate. No one knew freedom the way they did.

Soon the forests grew colder, and within days the rider was trodding through snow. They traversed the frigid mountains, and before long beheld their destination. Down below the city sat contentedly astride a fjord, the castle stationed on a small island deeper into the water, connected to the bustling city by a bridge. They rode down, their horse's wild mane flying in the wind. Soon the hunt would begin.

. . . . .

The sun was just beginning to set when they arrived. I felt them long before I saw them, while they were still on the outskirts of the city. The thudding of hooves against cobblestones rebounded through my mind as they rode into Arendelle. I gathered the others and we waited as the rider pulled up to the castle gates. They wore a green cloak with a hood that shadowed their features, making it impossible to tell what the stranger looked like. Over their shoulder they wore a bow and a quiver bristling with arrows, a long sword at their hip. Their horse was massive, a beast with black hair with sections of white and a fierce temperament from the look of things.

The rider dropped of their horse, revealing that they were actually relatively short. They put their hands on their hips, parting the cloak to reveal that they were dressed in close-fit riding leathers. Beneath the cloak they had a slim build, with their hips wider than their waist. Enhancing my vision, I saw that their fingers were slim beneath their gloves, all which combined with their chest made it obvious that this stranger was, in fact a woman.

But that wasn't the shocking part. I was used to being around strong women. A woman bounty hunter, while unexpected for this universe, was not a shocking experience. The shocking part happened when she pulled back her hood, revealing a pale face surrounded by a mane of wild curly red hair.

"What're **you** looking at?" she questioned in a Scottish accent.

"Merida?"


	5. Chapter 4: The Hunt Begins

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 4: The Hunt Begins

"Do I know you?"

"Uh… Yes. No. Sort of." I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the shock of discovering that Merida was the bounty hunter. "You were at mine and Elsa's wedding about a year ago."

"Ay, I remember that," she replied. "Fancy decorations, interesting guest list. I liked yer friend Nicholas. Never been to a royal wedding like that one before. Most o' them have too much pompousness, but yers was more real. You actually had some of yer odd friends there, not just royal stiffs."

"So how did a princess of DunBroch become a bounty hunter?"

"I don't have much interest in being a wee princess. Sometimes my mother brings me along with her to royal events like yer wedding, but for the most part I'm all to meself. I wanted adventure, and bounty hunting turned out to be a good way to get it. Now, no time for flapping our gobs." She swung off her horse, patting its side. "Once we get ol' Angus here into the stables yer going to show me this prison that my quarry escaped from."

. . . . .

After her massive horse was stabled, Elsa and I led her down into the dungeons. Anna and Kristoff remained behind, not wanting to bring their children down into those depths. Avan was particularly upset at not being able to go, but his mother was adamant. So it was that Elsa and I stood to the side as Merida looked into the broken cell, still left unrepaired since the conclusion of the battle against the darker half of my personality. Merida squatted down and stared at the floor of the cell, turning her head to look at the destruction around her.

"I'm going to guess that this wasn't the rogue prince's work."

"It was not," I agreed. "This happened when… an enemy sorcerer attacked. We defeated him, but the damage he caused allowed Hans to escape."

"Hmmm…" She continued to look around the room, and after a moment I felt a whisper of power. She stood up suddenly, turning to leave. "Alrighty then," she declared. "I'll be off. I've got meself a prince to find."

"You've already found a clue?" Elsa inquired, shocked. "How?"

"If you knew you were going to find something so quickly why did you even bother getting your horse stabled?" I added.

"I'm the best at what I do, yer Majesties. Now off with you! I'm sure you have some important queenly duties to see to. I'll stay the night in the stables, but then I'll be off." She strode out of the dungeon and I chuckled to myself. She was so much like the young girl from the movie, yet so different as well. Like Anna, yet also in a very different way, she was not a teenage girl anymore. While Anna had become a mother, Merida had become something else, something wild. Something I didn't entirely trust.

"I need to go with her," I whispered to Elsa.

"What?"

"There's something off about her. When she was searching the room I sensed a breath of power. She's not what she appears. Besides, this is **Hans** we are talking about finding. You know even better than I do how devious he is. Do you think he has been idle this whole time? He is too power-hungry to be content with exile. He will have been planning, and someone needs to be there to deal with whatever it is he has planned. You know there is no one better to do that than me."

She raised her eyebrow at that. "I can think of one person."

"You know you can't come with me," I stated plainly.

"And why not? Because I'm your wife? I am no less able to defend myself now than I was when we met. If anything I've become far more capable. There is no way you are leaving me behind."

I took her lightly by the shoulders and smiled down at her. "My dearest Elsa. Beautiful, intelligent, unrelenting, uncompromising Queen Elsa. Princess, I could tell you that you aren't prepared for something like this. I could tell you that I only want to keep you safe, that the kids need their mother more than they need a father. I even could tell you that I don't need your help. But we both know that would be a load of crap. You are the strongest, most powerful woman I have ever met. You are certainly a stronger person than any man I have ever met, you could probably even beat me in a fight. As for the children, I fully intend on coming back and being the best father I can be. I doubt either of us could die in this or any other event. I would love to have you with me on this new adventure."

I sighed, pulling her close. "But you simply cannot come. You are the queen. Arendelle needs you. It needs you to rule it. That is your duty as queen. You can't just drop everything and go on an adventure with me. Too many people rely on you. That's the thing about pesky things like responsibilities. You can't abandon them whenever you feel like it. You know that far better than I do."

"What about your own responsibilities?" she questioned. "What about your other home? You are usually only able to be away for eight hours or less at a time. Are you just going to abandon your responsibilities there?"

"About that…" I hesitated for a moment, knowing that there would be some serious backlash from what I was about to say. "I sort of have a way around that issue."

"You **what**?" her fists clenched and the air around her snapped with frigid power. "Are you saying that you had a way to spend all your time here and you didn't use it?"

"I said I **sort of** have a way," I replied, holding my hands up in surrender. "I have a theory, but I haven't fully tested it out yet. If I've gotten anything incorrect, I would be torn apart and scattered across all of time and space."

"Then you can't use it now! Do you really think I'm going to stand by and let you kill yourself?"

"I have to do this. It could be the only way to stop Hans's insanity for good. Besides, if this works we won't have only a few hours at a time together. I won't have to always be leaving. No more mornings waking up to not see me there, no more nights spent alone. If this works I can live both my lives to the fullest and be there for you one hundred percent of the time. I've been dying to try it, but I couldn't find a good enough reason to possibly kill myself."

"Don't kill yourself," she ordered. She smiled sadly and reached up to put her hand on my cheek. "We need you. I need you. I may be Queen, but you are my King. You will survive this. You have to."

I smiled back down at her. "Alright then Princess. Your word is my command." We walked out of the dungeon, and along the way I explained my plan. "So you know how I travel to this universe in my dreams using a talisman, right? Well, that talisman is the key. I was doing some experiments when I discovered that my body contained trace chronal energy from my time in the TARDIS. Through manipulating that chronal energy I discovered that I was able to store time in the talisman. By using the stored time from the other universe I can extend my stay in this one. The basic result is that as long as I keep storing and using the time from the various universes, I will theoretically be able to spend a full day in one universe while time is halted in the other, and then a full day in the other universe while time is halted in the first one. This would allow me to technically exist in both universes simultaneously."

"You know I could barely understand half of that," she stated, giving me an irritated glance. "But as long as you don't have to be away all the time, I'm fine with it. Just make sure you don't die."

"Will do."

. . . . .

It never would have worked if not for my close-up look at Timelord technology back during the war against the Void. Luckily I did get that close-up look, and since then I have made sure to learn as much as possible about time and how it works. Combining that knowledge with chronal energy and my own magical energies, I managed to enter my own personal time stream. Images flashed by me as I floated through flowing energy, images of my life. I saw my past, violent images of magical war intermixed with images of homework and school. Some images I didn't recognize, images that I assumed were of my future. I tried not to look at those ones too often.

I concentrated on the energy flowing through my time stream, warping it around me. It resisted harshly, but I forced it into shape, tearing it apart and putting it back together in a violent struggle. Several times I nearly found myself torn apart, but I was able to will the energy of my time stream into submission. I emerged from my time stream, finding myself in mine and Elsa's bedroom.

"Did it work?" Elsa looked down at me, worry widening her eyes.

"It worked," I grunted back, forcing myself to my feet. I looked down at my chest where the talisman hung, a faint bronze glow added to the golden, blue, and white light already glimmering from the talisman. "It worked."

. . . . .

"**Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!**"

I jumped out of bed, mind blurred from the first full night of sleep in Arendelle since destroying the Voidheart. Or, maybe not entirely full. Looking out the window, I saw that the sky was still dark, with only faint traces of pink as the sun had only just begun to rise.

"What is it?" Elsa asked groggily, wrapping the sheets around herself.

"Merida just left." I had conjured invisible warning beacons around the palace, designed to blare the song All-Star in my head when she left. I had intended it to be a warning, but I **hadn't** intended it to be an alarm clock. Even in alternate universes, dawn is far too early a time to wake up. "I guess that's my queue to go." I snapped my fingers and my bedclothes vanished, replaced by golden armor and a crimson cloak. I leaped out the window and transformed into a red-and-gold feathered hawk, screeching as I flew into the mountains.

. . . . .

Merida rode through the mountains, feeling the wind on her face once more. She had someone new to hunt, and that meant that she had another adventure before her. Glancing at the ground, she saw a line of blue flames, stretching out into the distance. "Come on then," she whispered. "Lead me to my fate." Looking up into the sky, she saw a red-and-gold hawk soaring above her. "Are you coming with me, my wee feathered friend? We'll see if you can keep up."


	6. Chapter 5: On the Road

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 5: On the Road

As it turns out I was really lucky that I had saved up all that extra time in my talisman. After five days of following Merida, nothing had yet to happen. The blue sky was still above us, the green earth below us, and a lot of trees around us. My best guess was that we were now somewhere in Eastern Europe, as we had crossed through the Dragon's Pass two days previous. My good old friend the black dragon didn't make an appearance, for which I was grateful. I still hadn't revealed my presence to Merida, and I wanted to keep that a secret for as long as possible.

"All right, I know yer there." Unfortunately, it looked like the secret wasn't going to actually last much longer. "Ye've been on me tail fer days now and I haven't caught sight of ye in all that time. I'll admit that yer good, but I'm better. So show yerself before I send a few arrows after ya."

I had been resting my eyes in the arms of a nearby tree at the time, entirely invisible. "Alright alright little miss warrior princess, I'm coming. You didn't need to wake me up." I had been spending the days as the same falcon while during the night I slept nearby, utilizing my Smash Mouth psychic alarm clock to make sure she didn't leave without me. I plopped out of the tree then, armored boots hitting the ground. I dismissed my invisibility charm gradually, allowing my armored form to slowly fade back into existence. "Here I am, your constant shadow. I guess I wasn't as sneaky as I thought I was."

"King John? Why on earth were **you** following me? Don't you have business back in Arendelle?"

"Business?" I laughed. "You act like I actually have a job. I'm the King Consort. You know what that means? It means that I get to sit there and look fancy for the people. I don't really do anything important unless there is a war going on. I suppose I help run the academy, but that's about it. I fell in love with a queen, but that doesn't make me a king. Besides, being out here is far more fun than staying in a stuffy old castle."

"You still 'avent answered my question." She glared at my, a dagger in her hand that I didn't remember seeing her take out.

"No need to threaten me. Not that your threats mean anything. World class sorcerer, remember? Well, multiverse class really, but you don't understand that concept."

"I don't like how yer talking to me. I'm not stupid."

I laughed at that. "No, just uneducated."

"I'm out of here." She shook her head and turned to leave.

"Not without me you're not." I teleported in front of her, blocking her path. "I plan on being there when you find Hans."

"And why is that?"

"So I can stop whatever devious scheme that lunatic is plotting," I replied. "You don't know him like I do. Hans is a power-hungry sociopath. He will not let anything stand in his way. But I've stopped him before, and I will stop him again. So lead on bounty hunter. And when the fighting starts, you'll be glad that your bow isn't the only thing standing between you and whatever than maniac has planned."

"I doubt it." She reached up and leaped onto Angus, riding off.

"Sometimes skill just isn't enough," I whispered. "Sometimes you need a little magic." With that I vanished, transforming into a stream of golden dust that swirled forward, following the horse and its annoying rider.

. . . . .

After another day of following her I finally realized the answer to what had been bothering me. Merida's strange method of finding Hans had been bothering me the entire search. What was she following? How did she know where to go? It turns out that the answer was actually quite literally right before my eyes. Breathing in deeply, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to see the world in a different light.

In our own world, a world where magic is all but dead, when I look through my spirit vision nearly everything is dull and grey. The only color is the faint outline of ley lines and everyone's barely visible aura. But in this world where magic was still vibrant, still so very alive, I looked and was blinded by the sheer immensity of what I saw. The trees and all of the other plants sparkled like emeralds with green light, while each stone had its own brown earthy tone and every animal shone with light, a the glorious blue of a distant ley line visible from miles away. This world was so alive in a way ours hasn't been for millennia.

And amidst all those brilliant lights, all that wonderful hidden magic, was a trail of blue sprites spreading out before us. Their tiny faces grinned at me as I saw them, and I laughed, opening my eyes back to the ordinary world. "Of course!" I laughed.

"And what is it you are blabbering about now?"

"The willow the wisps!" I replied. "That's how you've been tracking Hans! But how are you getting them to lead you to him? I thought they were only supposed to lead you to your fate."

"I make my own fate," she replied. "And right now my fate is to find this criminal and take him down. Once that is done I will have a new fate to chase after."

"Looks like I'm not the only one here with magic after all."

. . . . .

"So what do you usually do for fun?" I asked, lounging on a cloud that flew alongside Merida and her steed. "Other than firing arrows into the sunset that is."

"Are you usually this much of a bother?" she asked, glaring at me.

"Not really," I replied, transforming my cloud into a beautiful white horse. "Just when I'm bored. Which I am now. We've been traveling for days and the Wisps won't stop grinning at me. It's actually starting to get a bit creepy. When do you think something exciting will happen?"

"Is **that** exciting enough for you?" Following the direction of her finger, I saw there was a band of rough-looking men climbing down from a short cliff and blocking off the road.

"Get off your steeds and give us all your gold!" the lead thug, a large man wielding an axe that looked like it weighed more than I did, shouted. The other thugs brandished weapons of their own, all just as deadly. For an ordinary person, that is.

"I suppose it might be somewhat entertaining," I sighed. "If Rapunzel were here she could probably get them to become our best buddies, but she's not here right now, so I guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." I slid off my horse, pulling out an elegant blade and pushing my cloak out of the way, revealing the golden armor beneath.

"Looks like we've caught ourselves a lordling here!" the lead thug laughed. "Rough 'em up boys." The first one to move forward jerked to a stop with a scream, an arrow through his knee.

"If you want to keep meeting a far worse fate, I suggest you run now," Merida stated plainly, another arrow already nocked to the string of her bow.

"I'm not letting you have all the fun!" I exclaimed with a laugh, lunging forwards.

I quickly abandoned the sword, swinging with my fists. It isn't very often I get to face enemies so idiotic and weak that I can take them out with only my fists. Plus they were humans. They may have been scum, but they still had souls. I didn't want to kill anyone if I didn't have to. An axe swung towards my head and shattered on impact, its wielder staring at the broken haft in shock until I thumped him on the head, taking him out for the count. I grabbed the heads of two more men, smacking them together before tazering a fourth with my pointer finger. Merida was also somewhere around, as I spotted three men with arrows in various gruesome places and caught sight of her using her long sword to duel a man wielding a pair of scimitars. Before long the only foe left to me was the leader, who seemed far less fearsome now that his lackeys were taken care of.

"What are you?" he asked, fear in his eyes.

"I'm John the Adventurer." I pointed my fingers into the shape of a gun and pantomimed shooting him, a burst of electricity shooting out of my fingertips and sending him to the ground frothing at the mouth.

"You enjoying yerself?" Merida asked, pulling her sword out of her opponent's chest.

"Yep. Nothing better to get the blood flowing then some good old fashioned fisticuffs."

. . . . .

"This is it."

"Really?" I asked, staring at the town below. "This ramshackle place? Hardly seems like the place Mr. 'I'm so perfect' Hans Westergard would pick to spend his exile. There must be something valuable here that he wants. Though I can't imagine what he could find here."

It was a shanty town, little more than a few rotting sheds and worn down old shops crowded up against the side of a mountain. The only buildings that didn't look like they were going to fall apart were two large buildings, one in the center of town and the other the outskirts. I assumed the building in the center was the inn, made of far stronger and less rotted wood then the rest of the town, as well as being the only building to have more than a single story. Other than the fact that the second story was leaning dangerously, it didn't look too unstable, unlike the broken stone building next to it which must have been the old town hall. The building on the outskirts must have been a chapel of some sort, as the single-story building had a steeple with a large cross. It looked like the only people in town able to afford repairs were the priest and the innkeeper.

"Ready to investigate?" Merida asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," I replied. With a wave of my hand my clothing changed slightly, my crimson cloak becoming a dull tattered brown while my golden armor transformed into dull steel. "Let's find us a mad prince."

. . . . .

The townsfolk milled about, displaying the image of normalcy. They worked in their gardens and their shops, generally going about their everyday business. They tried to seem normal, but it was a ruse, and a poor one at that. Their eyes flitted between Merida and I, their movements were too fast. They were frightened, frightened out of their wits. But why? Had Hans done something to…?

A guard marched down the street and I froze in my tracks. My clenched fists shook as I saw the guard, and spreading my gaze across the town saw several more. "Impossible…" Unlike the malnourished townspeople these guards were healthy and fit, their wiry forms taunt with power. They wore brown leather armor, overlaid with plate of a dark steel that possessed a faint blue sheen. This armor was accented with silver ornamentation of various designs, but all of them had the same silver emblem of a rose, prominently displayed on both their armor and finely-crafted blades.

At the far side of town, carved into the mountain's face, was a massive door, the same emblem brazenly displayed, with several guards standing watch outside. "Impossible."

"What is it?" Merida hissed.

"It's the Rose," I replied. "But how? How did the Rose get here?"

"What is this Rose and why is it so important?"

"The Rose an organization dedicated to a single purpose: the death of magic."


	7. Chapter 6: The Rose

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 6: The Rose

"The death of magic?" Merida asked. "Is that even possible? Can you kill magic?"

"Of course not," I replied. "But that is not important. The Rose are zealots. Whether or not their goal is possible they will use any means necessary to achieve it. They will murder and enslave and do whatever they feel is needed. Nothing is beyond their insane quest. But they shouldn't be here. They shouldn't be able to be here."

"Why not?"

Looking around, I saw that the nearest guard was beginning to look at us strangely. "We can't talk about this now," I told the Scottish warrior woman. "We're attracting far too much attention. We can talk about this later. Let's head over to the inn."

"If yer really that worried, why don't you just poof us out of here?"

"Yes, because announcing to the magic-hating cult that a magic user is in their midst is **such** a great idea. We are going into the inn. Try not to look too suspicious."

"Worry about yerself," Merida muttered, stalking off. "I actually do this for a living, unlike you Magic Man."

. . . . .

Once we were situated in the inn and ordered a meal and a pair of drinks, Merida turned to me with a glare. "Now we're away from the ears of yer Rose friends, will you tell me what all this insanity is about?"

"Like I told you before, the Rose is an organization dedicated to destroying magic. I say organization, but cult would actually be a much more accurate word. In their world they would kidnap spell casters and imprison or execute any that didn't convert to their cause. Any magical creatures they manage to capture are given magical manacles that force them to do whatever they are told."

"So they use magic to fight magic? Sounds a bit hypocritical to me."

"As long as it furthers their goals, they don't care," I replied. "They will do anything, use any means necessary, to do what they believe needs to be done. But them being here is impossible."

"And why is that?"

"Because they are from another universe. I've traveled to other universes before, but these guys…" I hadn't ever actually met the Rose in real life before, but how was I supposed to tell her I had only seen them in a computer game? I was still shocked to be seeing characters from a computer game I used to play popping up in this universe. How was I supposed to explain what a computer game was? Or a computer? Guns were still new to these people. "I've only been to their universe once, and anything that they are planning cannot be good."

"And with yer rogue prince here…" Merida muttered.

"This could be recipe for disaster," I finished. "The most devious man I have ever met working alongside a fanatical, militaristic cult obsessed with destroying magic… this is not good at all."

"Then we should find this Hans as soon as possible and get out of here immediately after."

"No!" I stood up and slammed my fist on the table, the eyes of everyone in the inn coming towards us. I sat back down, calming myself and waiting for everyone to direct their attention somewhere else before continuing. "If the Rose is here, that means that there is a hole in the universe," I explained. "Realities that never should have connected are connecting, and that is a very bad thing. Hans and the Rose being involved only make it worse. This isn't about simply capturing Hans anymore. This has become something much more."

She crossed her arms stubbornly. "I didn't come here to be a hero. I came here to collect my bounty."

"And we both know the real reason you do this is for adventure," I stated. "And trust me. I've been doing this for years now, and the best adventures always start when something like this happens. Your own first adventure started with unexpectedly finding a witch and having her turn your mother into a bear. The unexpected always brings about the best adventures."

I suddenly found a knife to my throat, my large enveloping cloak hiding the blade from the others in the room. "How do you know about that?" Merida hissed.

"I know a lot of things I shouldn't," I replied. The knife suddenly vanished, and Merida stared dumbfounded at her empty hand. "And don't think that you can threaten me. You may be a skilled fighter, and you may have the wisps at your beck and call, but I am the most powerful being you will ever meet. I **will not** be threatened."

"Of course," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Can I have my dagger back?"

"Of course," I replied with exaggerated politeness. The dagger appeared on the table and she slid it back into its sheath.

"Then what's the plan, Oh Powerful One?"

"I think you know."

"Sneak into their mountain fortress it is then. But how, pray tell, are we supposed to get through the locked gates and past the guards without anyone the wiser?"

"With a bit of magic."

. . . . .

"I am really not comfortable with this."

"Too bad. It's either this or going in guns blazing."

"I'd much rather go in guns blazing."

"Then I guess you're out of luck."

The two of us walked through the street, unnoticed by any of the nearby guards or civilians. We were silent and invisible, undetectable by any means possible. As we walked, a guard walked toward Merida and strode straight through her, causing her to shudder as he passed through her incorporeal form.

"That does **not** feel good!"

"Oh, shut up you big baby," I laughed. "We'll be inside the fortress soon, and I will undo the spell once we are out of sight. Now let's hurry. I want to see what it is the Rose are hiding in there."

She muttered under her breath but followed, shuddering again as the two of us passed through the iron gate hiding the entrance to the Rose's secret fortress.

. . . . .

"Oh dear."

Oh dear was right. On the other side of the massive door was a large rock ledge, guarded by several more members of the Rose. Leading down from that ledge was a stone staircase that climbed down to a massive cavern that the rock ledge overlooked. Merida and I were at the cliff's edge, looking down into that cavern, which seemed to go on forever. Tents and campfires stretched as far as the eye can see, and miles away in the distant darkness of the endless cavern more fires were still visible.

Throughout it all were the Rose, sword-wielding soldiers and bow-wielding manahunters alongside the dangerous Rose magi, with several massive pits visible filled with magical creatures, manacled and chained. Thousands and thousands of Rose soldiers filled the cavern, the center of which was occupied by some sort of excavation. Looking closer, we could see the excavation had been dug further than any light could reach, miles and miles into the earth.

"It's an entire army," I whispered. "And they are digging deep into the earth." But why?

"Forget about the digging," Merida muttered. "Our target is right there!" My eyes followed the direction of her pointer finger and saw the former King Hans, decked out in Rose regalia and entering a large, extravagant tent. "I say we get in there and see what his royal highness is up to." Merida glanced up at me. "What about you, Magic Man?"

"I agree."

We walked down the stairway and passed dozens of Rose soldiers, my ethereal spell keeping us from being discovered. Whatever reason the Rose had brought an entire army into this universe I had no idea, but it couldn't be good. Especially with them digging that suspicious pit. Whatever it was they were searching for, it couldn't be good. If we could take out their leaders, we would be able to stop it.

We walked through one side of the tent and saw a group of five Rose leaders, two men and three women, sitting around a large circular table, with Hans standing and speaking to them. The men both wore massive, almost over-sized armor, and had oversized weapons leaning against their chairs. These men were obviously the leaders of the ordinary soldiers, while the women seemed to be more specialized. Two of them wore leather and had intricate bows, leading me to conclude that these were the leaders of the manahunters. The one calling the shots was a tall, white haired woman draped in robes covered in elaborate Rose sigils. She was one of the Rose's magi, the hypocrites who use magic to destroy magic.

"Everything is as I told you it would be," Hans told the assembled Rose leaders. "It won't be long before you have what you came for. I think it is time I received my compensation."

"An army to invade this tiny kingdom of Arendelle," one of the manahunters muttered. "How quaint."

"Arendelle is the furthest thing from quaint!" Hans spat. "It is ruled by a witch who has complete control over ice, along with her boy toy with a penchant for fireworks. They are not to be underestimated."

_"__I'm not a boy toy,"_ I muttered, my spell keeping the others in the tent from hearing my complaint. Well, all of them but Merida, who elbowed me in the gut.

"You will get your army…" the mage stated, her voice light yet filled with authority, "…once we have what we came for. Then and only then will our deal be complete. Besides, if what you say is true, then once we have achieved our goal, your witch and her boy toy will no longer be an issue."

A long musical note played on the wind, the Rose leaders looking about questioningly. Hans, however, didn't seem perplexed at all.

"What is that?" Merida asked as more music began to play.

I grinned at her. "I believe that Hans is about to sing."


	8. Chapter 7: Among the Rose

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 7: Among the Rose

"While you say that may be true," Hans began, the Rose leaders looking at him with confused looks on their faces. "You don't know them like I do. It takes the best to beat the be-est!" The music rose to a crescendo with that last note, Hans raising his hands into the air dramatically.

"They're clever, and they're sly." He crept around exaggeratedly at this part, popping up behind the Rose leaders' chairs. "Take a look and they'll poke out your eye. 'They have no magic,' you'll say with a grin," at this part he shook his head and wagged his finger at them, "but that doesn't mean you'll win. They'll kick you in the rear," he pantomimed kicking the back of their chairs, "and send you all back here, and wave you all goodbye!" He stopped for a moment, at this point the Rose leaders looking at him like he was a madman.

"Luckily, you have me," he stated simply before bursting back into song. "I'm slyer, and far more clever. Beat me again? I say never!" He stepped onto a chair, one leg on the chair and the other on the table, his fist raised triumphantly into the air. "My plan is brilliant!" He rose from the chair, standing on the table with his hands on his hips. "My dream is bright! This plot is resilient, I know I'm right! When all is said and done, they'll be dead and I'll have-"

"What on earth are you doing?!" the mage lady finally exclaimed.

"I'm… explaining my plan, Magus Madeline," Hans replied, confused.

"You were singing!"

"…And?"

"Is that a thing people do here?" she asked, sounding almost revolted. "Just, randomly burst into song?"

"Do people not do that where you're from?" Hans sounded just as confused as she was disgusted. I, of course, could barely hold in my laughter at the situation. It's not often that you get to see the hilarity that ensues when a musical world and a non-musical one collide.

"No, they do not, and I would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from any singing in the future," she hissed, pulling on a pair of silver gloves. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some business to attend to. Guards, please escort 'King' Hans to his tent. Generals, you know your duties." She left the tent swiftly, followed by a not-so-happy Hans with a pair of guards on either side.

"Well, now we know what is happening," I told Merida. "This is seriously bad. We need to get out of here before-" I turned around to see that Merida was gone. "Waffles," I muttered, poking my head out of the tent. "You can't capture Hans if you can't touch anything!" I shouted.

"There you are." I suddenly felt a sharp pain tugging at my insides and I turned around to see Magus Madeline, an ornate jeweled gauntlet stretched out towards me. "I felt your presence in my command tent, spirit," she hissed. "Nothing gets past me, not even specters. Now, why don't you submit before this gets truly painful. I have the feeling that you will be a great addition to our forces once we shackle you. You would be the perfect spy, certainly."

"Sorry to disappoint you Miss," I stated, becoming corporeal once more, the painful tug vanishing. "But I am no specter or spirit. Though I am the most powerful being you are ever likely to meet in your miserable life."

"I doubt that."

"Of course you do." I sighed, leaning against one of the tent poles. "A demonstration is in order then." I flicked my wrist and she was tossed fifty feet in the air, falling back down. She hissed out a spell and her gauntlet glowed, her fall slowing and allowing her to land unharmed.

"I've done more impressive in my sleep," she told me, her eyes steel.

"Then I guess I'll have to step it up a notch." I stomped my foot on the ground and tremors ran through the entire camp, spires of rock rising to cover and hold down her arms and legs. "You have no idea who you are dealing with here, little Miss Murder."

"I know exactly who I am dealing with," she spat back, a burst of sapphire energy freeing her hands. "I am dealing with a child who has lived their whole life feeling like they are better than everyone else because they were born with magic while everyone else was left with nothing. You think that just because you have magic you are superior. You never had to struggle for anything, because you always had your magic to help you. Well, you won't have your magic for much longer."

"Lived with magic my whole life?" I laughed, though the irony tasted somewhat bitter in my mouth. "You **really** don't know who you are dealing with. The power that I have now came with a price. I was born with magic in a world where magic is already all but dea. You think I don't know what it is like to struggle?" I snapped my fingers and she rose into the air, suspended in a bubble of golden energy. "You know nothing."

Her sapphire power was useless against the golden prison, her energy dissipating before my superior magical strength. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the fact that there was an entire army here. A dozen other Rose magi blasted me with azure energy, distracting me enough for Magus Madeline's prison to falter. I sent out a blast of energy that knocked them all to the ground, but now I was surrounded by over a dozen magi trained specifically to fight opponents with strong magical abilities.

"It's over," Madeline stated matter-of-factly. "You can't defeat us, wizard. No mage can defeat a dozen Rose magi working in unison."

"I am so much more than that," I hissed, allowing a bit of my power to seep out, lighting my clothing back to their usual red and gold, my armor taking on a faint radiance. "I have saved entire universes and battled forces you cannot even imagine. I have killed gods."

She smiled thinly, arching an elegant eyebrow. "Killed gods, have you? So have we." All of them focused their energy towards me at once, blasting against my hastily erected shield. I dug my feet into the ground and poured more energy into the shield, stopping when I felt the tremors beneath my feet. I reached out with my senses and realized that this place, for whatever reason, was already awash with magical energy. This direct clash between my power and the Rose's, both of which originated from a universe other than the one we were in, was destabilizing the cavern. If we kept this up much longer the cavern would collapse, killing everyone in it. Including myself and Merida.

I stopped putting energy in the shield and let them shatter through it, their power wrapping around me in a magical prison. "Not so powerful now, are you?" Magus Madeline asked with a sinister smile.

_Oh, you just wait,_ I replied inwardly, staring daggers at her. _You haven't seen anything yet, lady._ I felt cold iron against my skin as manacles clasped around my wrists, my magic slowly pouring into the runed chains. I looked around and caught sight of Merida hiding in the shadows. She put a finger to her lips and vanished, as if she had never been there. _Good job Merida!_ I laughed inwardly, sending my thoughts towards her telepathically. It seemed that even without my spell protecting her she could move about unseen. _Keep out of sight, I'll be out of here soon enough. This isn't the first time I've been locked in magic-limiting manacles, and the last time they had been forged by gods. This time should be no trouble._

There was no response but I guessed from the fact that she didn't appear again that she hadn't heard me. Either that or she had left me to die. I wasn't entirely sure at the time. Whatever the case, it didn't take long for them to drag me into a cage and lock me securely inside. Or, at least they thought it was secure. When I am the one in the prison, no prison is secure.

The last time I had been locked in manacles like these I had to force all of my magic back to my body, forcing the manacles to feed on my astral form instead. However, those manacles had been designed specifically to keep me from using any magic of any variety. From what I knew about the Rose, these manacles were just meant to keep me from using my powers against my would-be masters until they had broken my will. But that wasn't going to happen. These chains hadn't been forged by Hephaestus and enchanted by Odin himself. They had been forged and enchanted by humans, which meant that they were much easier to destroy.

But I wasn't ready to escape quite yet. There were still some things that I could possibly learn from this experience. People tend to be a little less tight-lipped around doomed men.

"So," I began as a guard walked past. "What's with the massive hole in the ground?"

"That is none of your business," he replied, stopping to glare at me. "Filthy mage."

_Your leader is a mage too, you idiot._ But I didn't say that out loud. That could ruin my chances at getting any information out of him. "Well, it doesn't look like I'll be doing any magic anytime soon." I waved the manacles at him. "Besides, I already know what it is. I was just wondering if you know. They didn't tell you, did they? They didn't tell you what they're making you dig up. You don't know anything. You're just a poor little pawn."

"I am not!" he hissed. "I am a Rose soldier! Dedicated to destroying magic so that it can never hurt anyone ever again! And I know exactly what is going on!"

"Of course you do," I replied sarcastically. "They tell you **everything**, don't they? Because you are just **SO** important. Ha! You are so naïve. They wouldn't tell you anything. I bet you couldn't even tell me what it is if you tried."

"We're digging out something that will be the end of all of you! All you mages and wizards will have no more magic left! We're taking the Mana Heart and we are going to destroy it once and for all!"

_Mana Heart? Wait…_ Ley lines are pathways of magical energy coursing through the world. They are sometimes referred to as veins of magic. But for there to be veins, there would have to be a heart… If this "Mana Heart" was what the guard was insinuating it was, and it even existed, by destroying it they would stop the flow of magic through the world's ley lines. It wasn't just talk this time. They weren't just here to imprison magic users and enslave magical creatures. They had actually found a way to kill magic. I needed to get out of there and stop this, before they really did manage to end everything.

Author's Note: So, that song, right? I always knew Hans was a pretentious idiot, but it was still hilarious to see the reactions on Magus Magda and the other Rose leaders' faces when he started singing. It was definetly one of my favorite parts about this adventure. Well, that's all for now. See you all next week.


	9. Chapter 8: Drastic Measures

Adventures of John

Chapter 8: Drastic Measures

"Thank you for your help," I told the soldier, "but it is time for me to take my leave of this place."

He just laughed. "You aren't going anywhere, sorcerer."

I smiled thinly. "Oh, I think I am." My eyes began to glow brightly, golden light pouring out of my cage. The manacles on my wrist began to glow as well, growing hot and burning the flesh beneath. I grit my teeth against the pain, continuing to pour power into the manacles. Soon they were white-hot and I was screaming, my flesh ruined by third degree burns. If it weren't for my magic subconsciously protecting me from the worst of it, I would never have been able to go through with it.

Finally there was an explosion of energy and the manacles shattered, leaving my badly burnt wrists free. My eyes flashed and the burns vanished, replaced with new unharmed skin. The body I had in that world may have been creating using magic, but it was still just as real as my ordinary body, and just as susceptible to injury and pain. I looked back at the stunned guard, fire in my eyes. "Told you so." With a flash of light he was encased in crystal, unable to move or make a sound, his eyes darting frantically beneath the rocky covering. He would survive, but it wouldn't be comfortable.

"I think it's time I tore this place apart," I muttered, cracking my knuckles. "If this Mana Heart is real, then there is no way I'm letting the Rose get their hands on it."

"You don't have a choice," Magus Magda declared, appearing with a dozen other Rose magi. "I should have known the manacles wouldn't hold you. No matter. We simply have to kill you. It shouldn't be too much trouble. After all, you are one man against an army."

An arrow suddenly appeared in the throats of three separate Rose magi, one of which was Magus Magda. "Not one." Merida came out of the shadows, three more arrows knocked to her bow. "Anyone moves, they get an arrow in their ticklish spot."

Two of the Rose magi with arrows in their necks slid to the ground dead, but Magus Magda did not. She dragged herself to her feet and waved her hand over the arrow, the projectile vanishing a puff of blue smoke, an azure glimmer sealing the wound closed. "Killing me won't be so easy, little girl," she hissed. Three more arrows flew towards her in response, all of which shattered against a shimmering field of energy. "I think it is time I exterminated you vermin."

"Vermin?" I asked with a chuckle. "After what you've seen, are you really stupid enough to consider us nothing more than rodents? There is something seriously wrong with your cranium."

"Even if you are as powerful as you think," Magda hissed, "I have a small army of Rose magi at my back, and a much larger army of soldiers and manahunters trained specifically to take down your kind."

"News flash: You are included in 'my kind.'"

However, as I glanced around, I saw that she wasn't wrong. I could count nearly four dozen Rose magi within my range of vision, and while Merida kept her bow trained on several Rose magi, dozens more manahunters had their bows trained on the both of us. It was possible I could survive this battle. I could slow down time, or make myself nearly invulnerable, or put a force field around myself. But that wouldn't ensure victory. The weapons of the Rose were specifically created to deal with magic, and their magi undoubtedly had tricks of their own up their sleeves. Mere days after killing an entire realm full of ancient pagan gods, and I was brought to a standstill by a bunch of insane zealots.

"You hold the upper hand, I will admit," I told Magus Magda with a bow. "It would seem that you actually have a slight possibility of winning this fight. Or of killing Merida at least."

"Hey!"

"Either way, I salute your intelligence. Tell Hans that John the Adventurer send his regards." With that I was gone, several dozen arrows and energy blasts striking the spot where Merida and I had been standing.

. . . . .

Elsa stared out one of the windows in her and John's chambers, out into the distant expanse of the ocean. John was usually so quick. He shouldn't have been gone this long.

"He's fine," Anna assured her, hugging her sister from behind. "I've only met one person in the whole world who is stronger than him."

"Oh?" Elsa asked, turning around with a raised eyebrow. "And who would that be?"

"You of course!"

Elsa let out a short laugh and wrapped Anna in a hug, gripping her younger sister tight. "I know that he can handle himself. It's just that I can't stand staying here while he runs directly into danger! I doubt he would stay here if I was the one running off to fight who knows what."

"Arendelle needs you," Anna reminded her, "you're their queen!"

"I know that," Elsa sighed. "But can you really blame me for rather being out there on an adventure than in here, crowded with nobles and bureaucrats?"

Anna laughed at that. "I guess I can't blame you. It would certainly be much more exciting than staying around here. But I'm sure you will be the one on the next adventure. Then it will be your turn to tell him to stay home.

Suddenly there was a burst of energy in the room and the two sisters turned around to see John and Merida standing in the center of the room. They stood still for a moment, a moment that was broken when Merida crumpled to the ground, an arrow in her side.

. . . . .

When Merida fell I knelt down and examined the wound, feeling the flesh around the wound. The veins around the wound were black, the sickly color spreading quickly. Of course the arrow that actually hit her was poisoned. The universe didn't want this to be too easy. Usually pulling the arrow out would be a really bad decision, but usually you don't have magic on your side I was low on time.

I tore the barbed arrow out of her side, eliciting an agonized shriek from the archer. I focused my energies on the poison running through her system and began to draw it out, her veins returning to their usual color as the inky substance left her body, collecting into a ball of liquid which I quickly evaporated. With the poison gone it was a simple matter to close the wound, leaving Merida gasping and covered in her own blood, but otherwise fine.

I turned around to see Elsa and Anna still staring at me, their eyes wide. "Hey there Princess," I said with a chuckle, "how is your day going so far?"

. . . . .

Fifteen minutes later Merida was lying unconscious on one of the many couches in the palace and I had told Elsa and Anna our tale. "They want to kill magic?" Anna asked, still not completely comprehending the situation. "But why?"

"Magic isn't always fun times," I replied. "We know this better than anyone else. Elsa did freeze your entire kingdom, remember? The world that the Rose comes from has things like that and worse every few months. They have undead army invasions, dragon attacks, elemental wars, and everything else that you can imagine. Basically, magic hasn't exactly been very friendly to them. And they don't just want to kill magic. Now they have a way to do it."

"Then we need to stop it," Elsa stated. "We can't let them destroy magic."

"Precisely what I was going to say," I replied, smiling at her. "Magic is a natural part of this world. Taking it away suddenly could tear the planet apart. But we can't do this on our own. We are going to need an army."

"Arendelle has soldiers," Elsa reminded me, "but if what you describe is accurate, we don't have nearly enough. They would be slaughtered."

"I know. That is why we need a very different kind of army." I gave her a pointed look. "You know what I mean."

"You want me to create an army."

"Yes."

She hesitated, knowing exactly what I was asking of her. I understood her hesitation, of course. When she created a living being out of snow and ice, such as Marshmallow or Olaf, she gave them a part of herself. For Olaf it as her happy childhood memories, and the childhood innocence that came with them. For Marshmallow it was her fear and distrust, her desire to be left alone. They needed that spark from her to have a life of their own. If either of them were to die, it would almost feel like a part of her was dying with them. Obviously that part of her wouldn't actually die, but it would still hurt her on a deep level. To create an army she would be imparting a portion of herself into every soldier, and every time one of them was destroyed the pain would be worse than a physical blow.

"If there was any better way I would take it," I assured her. "But at this point, there isn't. The Rose are close to reaching their goal. If we don't stop them now then we will lose. I am sorry that I have to ask this of you." I wrapped her in a hug, burying my face in her hair. "I truly am."

"I understand." She pulled away, wiping a frozen tear drop from her eye. "We do what needs to be done. Just like always."

"So how are we getting there if we are all in so much of a hurry?"

We all turned at the sound of the distinctly Scottish voice, seeing Merida standing up, wide awake.

"Don't look at me like that, you gobbers," she admonished. "Magic man over here fixed me up, I am good to go, and ready for some revenge. So, how are we getting there? I doubt ol' Angus can get us there fast enough if this is as urgent as John says it is."

Elsa recognized the glint in my eye and turned to Anna. "I need you to look after my children and the kingdom for a bit," she told her. "I won't be gone long."

"I'm going with you!" Anna exclaimed, adamant.

Elsa just smiled. "No, you're not." I snapped my fingers and Elsa, Merida and I vanished, leaving Anna alone in the room with a kingdom and two extra children to take care of.

. . . . .

We reappeared on a tall hill overlooking the poor town the Rose was essentially holding hostage, the three of us against an army of Rose in the caverns below. That would soon change.

"They need to be obedient," I told my wife quietly as she prepared herself. "You know what part of your life you need to draw from. I'm sorry for being the reason you have to relive bad memories."

"You aren't the reason," she replied stiffly, though I had a feeling I was still going to pay for it in the nights to come. "They are the reason. And they are going to find out why you don't mess with the Queen of Ice and Snow."

She raised her arms and the wind swirled around us, the temperature dropping drastically. Snow began to fall, and it was only the beginning. Within moments the wind was a tempest and snow was everywhere, filling the air and covering the ground. Then they came. Formed from my wife's icy magic and shaped to my design, they rose eight feet tall, covered in jagged icy armor. They wielded spears and swords of razor-sharp ice in their left hands, with thick icy shields in their right, mirroring my wife's left handed tendencies.

Hundreds and then thousands of them rose out of the snow and marched forward towards the town and the fortress beyond it. The Rose had come prepared for a war, and we were going to give it to them.


	10. Chapter 9: Battle of the Frozen Rose

Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 9: Battle of the Frozen Rose

"How dare they treat **me** like a child!" Hans whined. "I am the rightful king of the Southern Isles, not some common pawn to be used as they please!" He paced around his tent, thinking out loud to himself. "I will not let them take MY gory, MY destiny. I will simply have to take this so called "Mana Heart" for myself… but what can I use as distraction while I steal it?" Just then the cavern was rocked by some great force, stone dust falling over his tent from the distant ceiling.

He smiled slyly, knowing from experience what had most likely caused that tremor. "It looks like my distraction is already here. How convenient."

. . . . .

Sam didn't like these "Rose" people. Not at all. They came into his town and acted like they owned the place, doing who knows what in that mountain of theirs. True, they hadn't exactly done anything particularly bad to them, and they had kept the bandits out of town, but still. This was his town, and these mysterious outsiders didn't belong there. Not that he was going to tell them that of course. They didn't seem like the kind of people who would take too kindly to that, what with their swords and all.

He was in the tavern that day, drowning his worries in far too much mead. When the snow began to fall he wasn't too surprised. Winter was coming on and snow was near due anyways. Sure, it was a bit early, but not by much. When the snow turned into a snow storm he began to look at his tankard with suspicion. How much had he had to drink? But there was no way any amount of mead could make him imagine that cold. Before long he was shivering, the cold having reached into every part of his unprepared body.

He heard exclamations of fear and shock from outside, and against his better judgment he went to take a look. The snow was already several inches thick on the ground, but that wasn't what froze him in his tracks. What froze him in his tracks were the massive goliaths marching down towards his little town, wielding frightening weapons of ice that matched their own frightening forms. At this point he was certain that he had far too much to drink, and that once he went to bed he would wake up with all of this gone. And then people started vanishing.

One by one the townsfolk vanished with a flash of golden light, leaving nothing behind. The only ones not affected were the Rose soldiers, suddenly finding themselves the only ones in the town. Before long Sam was the only villager left, and then golden light enveloped him and he was suddenly somewhere else, surrounded by the other townspeople.

"That's all of them," a strange man in golden armor told a beautiful woman in an icy blue dress. The man turned towards Sam, smiling at him. The smile was probably meant to reassure him, but the man's strange golden eyes only confused poor Sam all the more. "Your town is safe," the man told him. "Now the Rose have a reckoning to deal with."

. . . . .

John had rescued the villagers, teleporting them out of the town to keep them away from the battle. Now it was up to them to stop the Rose. More importantly, it was up to her to create their army. John was powerful, but one thing he couldn't do was create life. Any soldiers he made would require him to focus his attention on them. Any distraction would scatter them upon the wind. No, this was her responsibility. But that didn't mean it was one she enjoyed.

When she was younger, she did everything that her parents told her to, because she believed that they knew best. She locked herself away in her room and rarely even spoke to Anna again despite how much she desperately wanted to. These soldiers needed that level of blind obedience, so she was forced to delve back into her memories of all those years alone. And it hurt. It hurt so much.

It wasn't just that she had to look back at those memories. These soldiers that she was creating trusted her implicitly. They believed that she knew what was best, and even though she was sending a great number of them to their deaths, they still went. They were living beings now, and she was sending them to their deaths. But what other choice did she have? She was the only one who could do this. So she kept making more, until there was a sea of icy soldiers pouring down into the hillside toward the Rose's mountain fortress.

. . . . .

The Rose soldiers outside the fortress had no idea what hit them. One moment they were patrolling the town, making sure that none of the villagers did anything out of line, and then it was snowing and people were vanishing before their very eyes. When the snow soldiers charged them they fought back, but were quickly overwhelmed by the larger, more powerful, and far more numerous foe. Those directly outside the fortress gates banged on them frantically, calling for those inside to let them in. They managed to get inside, but those wooden doors did little to protect them.

There was a massive crash and the wood split, but the doors held. A dozen Rose soldiers attempted to brace the door, putting all their weight against it. The next crash sent them all flying, splitting the wood yet again. The soldiers rushed to brace the doors again, only for the wooden barriers to explode inward, shards and splinters of wood flying everywhere as the wave of armored snowmen charged into the cavern. The Rose camp below was in turmoil, unprepared soldiers and manahunters frantically putting on their weapons and armor and charging into the fray.

If they expected the snow soldiers to use the stairs, they were sorely mistaken. They jumped off the small cliff in waves, landing with successive thuds and charging at the fanatics. However, despite the surprise of the attack, the Rose were professional soldiers who had trained for years. They met the icy tide with a wall of iron, and before long they were accompanied by whizzing arrows and bursts of magical energy. The magical creatures imprisoned in the spiked ditch were released on the weaponized snowmen, their enchanted manacles compelling them to do as their Rose masters commanded.

Distracted as they were by the army of deadly snowmen, the Rose had no idea that their greatest threats were passing right under their noses. Merida, Elsa, and I appeared at the edge of the pit, staring down at the darkness below. "I guess it is time for us to see what all the fuss is about," I told them.

"Well?" Merida asked impatiently. "We don't have all eternity, now do we? Let's hurry it up! We've got a world to save."

Elsa chuckled. "I like you. You should come along on these adventures more often."

"Alright, enough girl talk," I told them. If they started telling each other about how annoying I was, I was going to blow a gasket. "Let's get this show on the road." I waved my hand and conjured a floating platform, gesturing at the others to get on before stepping on it myself. I then added handrails, smiling grimly. "Better hold on." Once they had done so the platform dropped, plummeting deep into the pit, a shriek accompanying us on the way down.

. . . . .

This wasn't how today was supposed to go. They were supposed to finish their digging today and finally get their hands on the Mana Heart. With the Mana Heart in their possession, they would have used its power to destroy all who stood in their way and eliminate magic not just from this world, but from ALL worlds. And she was watching all those plans fall to ruin because of an army of _snowmen_. She could not let that happen. There was too much at stake to let this defeat her.

She was just about to join into the battle when a soldier raced over to her, bowing low. "Magus Magda!" the soldier declared. "The Exile King has left his tent! No one knows where he has gone to."

"That coward fled the moment trouble started," she spat. She was about to say more but paused, thinking. Despite his strange penchant for singing, Hans was no fool. He was a snake, and he wouldn't let a chance like this slip past him. _But a chance to do what?_ Her eyes were slowly drawn towards the pit and the treasure hidden beneath. _He wants the Mana Heart for himself!_ she realized. "Join the battle soldier," she told the messenger. "I have a snake to deal with." With that she vanished, reappearing at the edge of the pit.

"I will not let a spoiled brat take this from me," she hissed, glowing with azure energy. "I shall see that this 'king' learns the error of his ways." She then leapt off into the pit, the glowing aura around her giving her control over the speed of her fall, almost as if she were flying.

. . . . .

While everyone had their own individual crises, the battle still raged. The front lines were a mess of blood and snow, and while the Rose were more numerous than the snow warriors at the moment, they were not nearly as deadly. The enchanted arrows of the manahunters managed to shatter some of their icy armor, but did nothing when they sunk into their snowy flesh. The swords of the ordinary Rose soldiers failed to break through the icy armor, and stabbing the snowmen did nothing. Defeating one required a coordinated effort, with a manahunter shattering the armor and Rose soldiers cutting off the creature's limbs.

The only humans capable of destroying the creatures on their own were the Rose magi, their spells turning the snowmen into nothing more than piles of snow. Of course, humans weren't the only beings under the Rose's thrall. Hundreds of shackled magical creatures taken from the Rose's own world swarmed over the snow warriors, from faeries and sneevils to togs and gorillaphants. The massive half-gorilla, half elephant monsters smashed the snow soldiers with their massive fists while packs of the part tiger, part dog, part lizard togs ripped them to pieces and sneevils and fairies worked together in fae ambushes.

. . . . .

When James had joined the Rose he hadn't wanted any of this. He had just wanted to find justice for his mother, who had been killed when he was only a child, when the mad dragon Akriloth burned their village to the ground. She had only been one of many in his village to die. But he hadn't signed up for traveling to other worlds and killing everything that had magic. He most certainly hadn't signed up to fight a war against an army of bloodthirsty snowmen. He didn't understand any of this. He just wanted to return home.

In the midst of the battle he spotted the gates to the fortress, still wide open from the snowmen's initial entrance and now completely unguarded. If he could make it out those doors, he had a chance to escape all this madness. He was skilled with a blade, he could become a hired sword for some rich nobleman and get enough money to live comfortably. He didn't know this world, but it couldn't be too different from his own. He just needed to get out those doors.

He dodged under the sweeping blade of one of the icy warriors and made a run for it. He ducked to escape a blast of energy from one of the magi that had been directed towards one of the ice monsters and jumped to the side to avoid one of the massive gorillaphant fists. He dodged around several dozen more of the snow creatures, and somehow, by some strange miracle, he got through, reaching the steps leading to the gates. He rushed up the stairs with glee, getting so close to freedom he could feel the sunlight on his face.

Suddenly an arrow pierced his left thigh, dropping him to the ground. He looked down in shock and horror as deadly poison began to spread through his veins from the wound. _I was so close!_ But he would never walk through those doors. On the other side of the cavern one of the manahunter leaders pulled out another arrow, watching the remaining Rose troops closely. "No deserters."


End file.
